Jennifer Lawrence arriving for the world premiere of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 at Leicester Square in London.Photo: Luke MacGregor/ReutersHooded people are shot dead in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay − Part 1, third in the dystopian fantasy films aimed at teenage girls that had its world premiere on Monday, but star Jennifer Lawrence does not think the darker plot will lose viewers.
The tribute Hunger Games gladiatorial contests to the death that made Lawrence’s character, the archer Katniss Everdeen, a symbol of female empowerment, are over and the action moves underground to a previously unknown District 13, run by president Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). She is planning an all-out war against oligarch president Coriolanus Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, who runs the Capitol which rules over ‘Panem’ and forces young people to fight every year in the televised tribute games meant to keep the population amused − and in check.
Asked if she thought the young audience might be overwhelmed by the darkness of the new film, in which the Capitol broadcasts a propaganda video showing hooded victims being shot, Lawrence said: “Well, you know, we’re continuing Katniss’s journey. It’s not really about picking up with the games anymore, we’re moving into a real war between District 13 and the Capitol, so things are naturally getting darker storywise, visually, because we’re underground a lot in District 13. We’re following her journey,” she said.
The Hunger Games movies, based on the bestselling books by Suzanne Collins, have so far grossed $1.6 billion worldwide.
Director Francis Lawrence said the films were true to the books, and fans wanted it that way.
“I think quite honestly that part of the reason the kids have responded the way they do to these books and these movies is that they’re not being spoken down to, and they’re being treated like adults,” he said. “We’re being as honest as we can and I think quite honestly they can smell it when they’re being spoken down to and I have no interest in doing that.”